140 Wis. 524 | Wis. | 1909
Under the special charter of the city of' Beaver Dam, as amended by ch. 96, P. & L. Laws of 1859, the power was vested in the school board to determine and certify to the common council by July 1st in each year the amount of money necessary to support the schools of the city for the ensuing year, and it was made incumbent on the common council to levy the amount so certified for school' purposes. State ex rel. Ordway v. Smith, 11 Wis. 65. The-power of the school board was materially curtailed by sec. 4,. subch. X, ch. 83, Laws of 1885; but we may assume for the purposes of this case that ch. 135, Laws of 1889, substantially restored to it the powers conferred by the law of 1859, and imposed upon the common council the duties in regard to making levies for school purposes that were imposed by such act, and we take it as granted that prior to the adoption of the general charter law in its entirety by the city of Beaver Dam in 1903. the common council of such city had no voice-in determining the amount of money'that should be levied for school purposes, provided the school board performed its statutory duty to determine and certify the amount that should be raised.
“In every city which shall adopt this chapter for its government, if there shall be at the time of such adoption a board of education or school board elected by the people under the provisions of its charter, . . . the election and organization, powers and duties of such board shall not be affected by this chapter, and such system shall continue until changed by a vote of the electors of the city.”
The school board of Beaver Dam is an elective one, and it is one of the contentions of the appellant that the provisions in the general charter law above referred to retained in and reserved to such school board all the rights and powers it possessed under the special charter of the city, including the right to compel the city council to levy such sums for school purposes as were determined upon by the school board and certified by it to the common council.
By ch. 480, Laws of 1907, sec. 925 — 113, Stats. (1898), was repealed and a new section was adopted in lieu thereof. This act provided that as to cities other than those of the first class adopting the general charter law, when the school board was elective at the time of such adoption, “the plan of school organization and management shall continue until changed by a majority vote of the electors of such district.” This amendment was in force at the time the common council of Beaver Dam refused to levy the amount of money for school purposes determined and certified by the school board.
We deem it unnecessary to decide whether the general charter law at the time it was adopted by the city of Beaver Dam gave the school board of the city the right to determine the amount of school taxes that should be raised in a given year and the right to compel the city council to levy the amount so determined. If such right was retained in the school board it was because such law authorized it to exercise the “powers and duties” theretofore exercised under the
By the Court. — The order quashing the alternative writ of mandamus is affirmed. As to the other alleged orders ap’pealed from in part, the appeal is dismissed.